Is this the end of the sox for a while?

[mass1926]

It looks as though the lack of spending on offensive fire power finally caught up to the sox this year. They just dropped 3 games to the Orioles, who have 7 wins this year, 4 of them coming from the Red Sox. Their pitching is pretty solid for the most part with Beckett, Lackey, Lester and Buckholtz looking strong. However, they are just not putting up the runs this year in those low scoring games, and when their pitchers have a poor outing they can't match the other team's runs. I know it's early and anything can happen, but I just don't see them matching the talent of Tampa or New York this season. With Minnesota stacking up in the central, it looks like the Sox are going into decline rather than making the right trades and right signings to remain competitive.

 

[usgrant]

Epstien knows what he is doing. Let's see how this pans out over the next few weeks. He has brought them two World Series Championships in recent years. Bottom line they still have to play the games! However, many prognosticators said in the beginning of the year that they lacked offensive fire power...Yankees playing well despite Tex, ARod and Grandenson doing zilch!

 

[Adam]

They do lack the big 40-homer bat, but I feel this should still be a 90 win team, give or take, when all is said and done. The Orioles are just semi-hot at the moment. The pitching has been there for Baltimore, but the bats were stagnant. Now the bats are coming around a bit and the pitching is still solid. Still, I don't think Boston fans have too much to worry about, honestly.

 

[Cy/MiG]

We're only 25 games in, Ellsbury and Dice-K have been out most of the season and the Sox have a bottomless wallet like the Yanks.

Even if they 'only' win 80-85 games this year they'll bounce back next year.

 

[Cy/MiG]

Beltre is only under a one-year deal.

If Dice K continues to collapse then they can release him and save $$$ (and then trade for a decent 4th starter like a Zach Duke or Paul Maholm).

A-Gonz is a good possibility to replace Beltre/Ortiz.

And one can never discount the possibility of the Sox signing a good FA like Dan Uggla or Carl Crawford in the offseason.

I agree about V-Mart (although they have no backup catcher since Varitek's a corpse), but even if they have one bad year like the Yanks did two years ago there is no reason to assume they can't rebound and compete for the pennant almost immediately.

 

[Cy/MiG]

Good call on Molina, he would be a perfect fit for the Sox.

Once the Giants call up Buster Posey, Benji will be totally expendable.

I think it's highly likely that the Sox will be major free agent spenders in the offseason unless they really think that using sabremetrics to sign players like JD Drew will equal wins.

 

[maniactickler]

Sox look like shit. they are going nowhere this year.

 

[Adam]

I suppose the biggest question is whether or not they'll be able to catch the Rays and Yankees within the division, which would be tough for anyone, because they aren't making the playoffs as a third place team. As a long-suffering Orioles fan, I have learned never to count Boston out, so we'll see how things progress in the coming months. Regardless of what happens, I really do believe they'll go hard after Adrian Gonzalez at the deadline.

 

[Adam]

Not to sound like an asshole, but maybe if the Orioles had a decent front office they could've landed Teixeira who would've loved to play for his hometown fans. However, because they're office won't spend to get the big players and fill the seats, Tex went to the Yanks. If they got him they could've built around him and I honestly thing he hits better for the Orioles without the pressure of New York that seems to affect his early season hitting so far in both seasons. I think he would've just raked for baltimore because it's a not pressure atmosphere to play in.

That's kind of a misconception about Teixeira. Even growing up in Maryland, his favorite team was the New York Yankees. The man idolized Don Mattingly. I really do think he was heading to New York regardless, even if the Orioles had topped the Yankees offer. Now the Orioles do have a chance in the coming years to be competitive. Obviously not all of their young talent will pop, but even with the early losing, it's a lot more fun following a young team with legit potential than following a squad of retreads. It's nice when you hear scouts from other teams commenting on how they really like Baltimore's young talent. It gives us hope, because this time, it's not just your typical Oriole front office spin.

 

[Adam]

They gotta do something though. Hell I went there last year to a Yankees game and 70 percent of the sell out crowd were Yankees fans. In fact, unless the Yanks or Sox are in town I usually see the crowd almost 25 percent or more being empty seats. They need a star player to fill those seats so that they can afford to continue keepign talent around. What's happening is that as the talent matures they are packing up and leaving when they get better offers. The O's haven't been in the competition since 1997!!! They seriously need to spend on some stars to get the ball rolling, or otherwise they will never be a factor again so long as Boston and New York continue to buy talent to replace aging players.

Also, I've been to Fenway, Yankee Stadium (the old one) and Camdem Yards and Baltimore has by far the better of the 3 stadiums. I even think Baltimore's stadium is prettier than the new Yankees stadium. Don't let the "history behind fenway" bullshit trick you into believing Fenway is a place of beauty. Probably the worst stadium in the entire league. Old and too narrow wooden seats in many spots, overpriced tickets for bleacher seats, very little area to move around in the stands if you have to get up and go get food, and the field itself is nothing special. the "history" is nothing more than a brainwashing tactic by the local Boston media to convince people that there is no need to build a new stadium mainly because nobody is willing to put forth the funds.

Yeah, I can't argue with anything you've said. The Orioles desperately need a legitimate cleanup hitter in the Adrian Gonzalez/Prince Fielder mold. That will make the young talent hitting around said big bopper a lot better just by having that protection in the lineup. Most of the year, we've had Tejada batting 4th. I mean, he's hitting well and is practically guaranteed a high batting average, lots of doubles and around 15-20 homers. But he's not that 30-homer guy that he used to be. O's don't have anyone like that for the time being.

 

[Coup de Grace]

No more Sox? Good! I'm sick of them and the Yankees cluttering up my ESPN anyway.

 

[Coup de Grace]

Yes. Nobody out here cares about that rivarly. It's all about the Giants vs. Dodgers in these parts.